You’re right about building a CD collection. So many people are donating their CDs to charity shops and you can pick them up for cheap. And unlike a second hand record or cassette their sound quality does not decline unless the disc is damaged.
@@brenthooton3412 I’m the late 90s I was picking up LPs for pocket change. Basically in a two year period of 1999-2000 I would find some for as little as around 70c in today’s money. The quality was hit and miss. Now of course Beatles records were not cheap then and for that money you’d just buy the CD anyway, but I promise you only 60s original issue records were commanding a premium. Back in the 70s in Australia, Parlophone records had an orange label revertting to black in the 80s. But records could be had for cheap. At the time what I was truly looking for was a US Veejay issue of a Beatles LP but I couldn’t find one at the time.
Totally agree and it’s quite fun to pick up some of your favorite music for cheap, as opposed to buying used vinyl records at inflated prices. I do collect both CDs and LPs though 👍
I'm so glad you mentioned the muffled sound at the opening of the song "A Hard Day's Night" on the 2009 stereo remaster. How could they let it be released like that?!?!
I have the original 1987 CD of Sgt. Peppers and the 1995 CDs of the Red/Blue albums. They both sound great. CD is truly the best overall medium for audio recordings.
@@DimitrisDr3am CDs are never compressed. Vinyl is better if played on a laser turntable, and the vinyl was brand new and never played before. They also have some of the mono songs on the CDs. I never herd horribly mixed songs on CDs.
On Friday I went to a local charity shop. I was browsing through the CDs while a man behind the counter was sorting through a batch of CDs that had been donated that day. Amongst the CDs he was checking I spied a copy of Please Please Me without a case. The man picked up the CD and told me that he had never liked the Beatles despite being English and alive during the height of Beatlemania. He regarded the CD for a few moments and admitted that he didn't know any of the songs and I assured him that he would recognize some of the songs if he heard them. By then I had picked out a few CDs and placed them on the counter, but before I coukd offer to buy Please Please Me he put it in one the cases of one of the CDs I was buying and told me he was going to throw it out anyway and I could have it for free! Case or no case I'm glad I went to that shop last Friday. Incidently it's a 1987 copy made in Australia. It's in mono and I have yet to hear it, but it will be fun to listen to it in the car while I drive around town.
I bought my copy of that disc in Australia in the 1990s. It’s a solid mix. I would say that the recording techniques of the 1960s did not anticipate the S/N ratios possible today, so it doesn’t sound as full as modern recordings, but it does reveal what the producers wanted to drop on vinyl, so it sounds adequate. It’s a good look into the minds of 1960s recording artists, as if these records were being mixed on modern equipment we would have something much different.
In my opinion, Please Please Me is the album that fared the best from that initial batch of '87 Mono Beatles CDs. Something about the 2-track recordings doesn't sound too bad to my ears being a bit smoothed over by the tape transfer. It has some sentimentality for being my first Beatles CD but for a full listen I would still reach for the 2009 Mono CD first.
Before they released the official Beatles cds in 87 I bought the 1st Beatles related cds, they were : Beatles First (Polydor), Wings Greatest (Japan),and Milk and Honey (Polydor). This was around 1984. Great video, thx!
You're not the only one working in a record store who got 'Brothers In Arms' burned into your brain by too many in-store plays. Ha! :) (And I was astounded at the number of copies we moved of that album weekly in Waco, Texas.)
I don't know if you still read comments on this video, but I wanted to mention something weird I noticed with a particular CD over here in the United States. Our 1987 CD of Rubber Soul still used the American cover artwork. It has the brown letters, and even the Capitol logo in the corner. What's weird is that even though it has the Capitol artwork, it has the same tracklisting as the canon version of the album, and underneath the tracklist is the parlophone logo and the EMI copyright information. It's just a really weird release, and I'm pretty sure this only applies to Rubber Soul because my copy of Help! from 1987 uses the canon artwork and lacks any mention of Capitol.
Wow, that's news to me. I thought that only vinyl suffer from bad pressing issues. After all, when a vinyl record is pressed, we have to consider: the quaility of the pvc used, how clean were the pressing machines, how many copies were done using the same mother, the quality of the mother, lacquers, stampers, the quality of the master tape used and some more. To me, CDs were just a copy from the approved final digital file and the only thing that would differ from different CD pressing would be the quality of the packaging (booklets, digipacks...). I thought that, soundwise, an original UK Let it Be from 1987/88 would sound exactly the same as a Brazilian copy.
I remember when the final sale 8 tracks were on a "sale" to make more space for cassette titles. Part of the reason I think vinyl bounced back is clear. If you see the CD spinning, you just see a fast spinning disc. A regular vinyl record will just spin reliably within view. It's all old and familiar, too. This adds to the appeal. No matter the format, each of them has something unique in all of them making for something enjoyable.
I personally prefer the Mono Masters compilation over Past Masters, simply because the singles sound much better with their mono mixes in most cases. There isn’t a direct correlation, so you need Past Masters to get a few of the later singles tracks, but it’s worth the extra cost to get both. I will also give a shout-out to the CD singles and EP collections from the early 90s. These were a big improvement over the 87/88 CDs for many of the tracks… especially for the early catalog. I think I might even prefer them over the 2009 CDs in many cases.
When the first 4 1987 CD’s came out, bootlegs CD’s featuring the UK stereo stereo mixes started appearing, as well as session bootlegs that sounded like they were ripped from the master tapes! People speculated that while compiling his “Beatles Recording Sessions” book, runners between the EMI vaults and Mark Lewisohn’s listening station were diverting the tapes to bootleggers. Also around this time, the individual MFSL Beatles albums were circulating on the market, giving diehard fans a listen to the stereo versions they were being denied on CD.
I'm sure that was happening. No way it could not have been, despite anyone in charge's "best" intentions. Mind you, it's telling that even after the XDR mono cassettes came out, EMI were STILL manufacturing the brown-top, stereo editions of the first four albums on cassette, well into June 1989. This anomaly was masked throughout the supply chain and sales returns by virtue of them both having the same barcodes as each other. They didn't do the same with the vinyl I believe, because during 88-89 there were still many pre-digital stereo copies in back-stock, which it seemed record shops found perfectly easy to order from EMI upon request.
I bought my first CD player near Christmas time 1988. At the same time, I bought the entire Beatles catalog---the 13 studio albums, and the two Past Masters. These were the only CDs I owned for nearly two years, playing them over and over. I since have built up a collection of close to 1000 CDs, and I still have them all. Although I have dubbed most of them onto a hard drive,, I still listen to CDs quite a bit, as there is a nostalgia that you only get from hearing them as I did all those years ago, either on my stereo system, or even just an old boom box.
I just got me the 87/88 CDs in the wodden box! I’ve been owning both 2009 sets for some time but craggy a complete collection. So I got me the first CD editions! Great addition to the collection 🎉🎉❤️❤️✌🏻✌🏻
I totally agree with your choice of the 1987 transfers for the later albums. They are more visceral-sounding than the remasters. However, there is one tidbit worth mentioning: in 1986-87, Canada got sent by accident digital transfers of the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul, not the George Martin remixes. In pre-Internet days, nobody noticed the mistake and those versions made it onto CD there and remained in print well into the 1990s. These are my favourite versions of those two albums, having the edge over the transfers on the '09 mono box, in my opinion. Check them out if you get the chance.
I don't know man, when I bought for the first time the 1987 Cd versions of certain Beatles albums I felt that there was something missing when it came to the quality of the sound and I couldn't wait for the moment when they were going to be remastered after such a very long time. After I finally got them I got so much more pleased with the sound quality overall, maybe not so much with Abbey Road which didn't sound to me that much better. And I love how the Mono remasters sound. It's all subjective I guess
MrDustpile 1 second ago Tell you what, the mono Magical Mystery Tour CD from the late-90s ep box set is so rich, deep, clear, straightforward and upfront that it easily takes top billing for quality alogside any pic-n-mix of tracks from all three 2009 collections. I prefer a huge bulk of Past Masters from 1987, being much crisper and brighter. I think too much overthinking went into the 'feel' in 2009, leaving many tracks sounding wooly - even if they are deeper. Love he stereo of all four first albums though, sweet alongside old Japanese releases of the same stereo albums.
Speaking of which (Canadian '87 CDs), we got them with "Stereo" on the cover despite being those same Mono CDs. In the case of 'Please Please Me', I can't listen to that one any other way, that CD was my first Beatles album at the tender age of 5. Also, 'Rubber Soul' used the Capitol Records cover with gold lettering, but it was the UK Parlophone track listing. Funny
I also bought the first-ever Beatles CDs back in '87 here in the US....like you, I bought a CD player, but mine cost just several hundred dollars US. I think that in the UK CD players cost more because tech overseas was always a bit more backwards than in the States...in any case, I did hear the "squeaks" in Ringo's drum pedals! Keep in mind that, at the time, compact discs were all the rage and I had all of the US Beatles albums on compact disc (which I played on my Walkman) and the sound was horrific! A the time record stores were 100% vinyl and stores CDs were so rare that they (the jewel boxes) were packaged in these very long cardboard boxes (?), presumably to prevent people from pinching them from stores. I still have them 30-plus years later, although I threw those stupid cardboard boxes away. Yeah, I remember the SGT. Pepper cutouts...I was thoroughly confused by them since I never actually owned the vinyl with the original sleeve. Having the proper UK albums instead of the cobbled US versions was a real plus as well. I had Yesterday & Today on vinyl and the cover was super boring with the Beats sitting around a large piece of luggage? (steam trunk, I think) I tried to peel the cover off to see if the original "butchered babies" cover underneath was there but, alas, I just ruined the sleeve to no avail.
I agree on most of your choices for the ultimate Beatles CD box. When the first four CDs came out in 1987, the only one I bought was A Hard Day's Night, and it certainly didn't make me fall for the new CD format. My US LPs sounded much better so I knew something was very wrong. I was very selective with the following Beatle CD releases I bought. The early Sgt. Pepper and MMT discs are still my go to versions. I've never been pleased with the White Album on CD until the most recent remix, and I still don't really like any Abbey Road CD. Nothing seems to sound as good as my 1970s UK LP pressing. It was fun hearing your memories about the arrival of the Beatles on CD. I remember those days hanging around the record store discussing new releases and how they sounded.
First of all, how you managed to switch to producing video every week AND increase your production quality at the same time is astounding to me so well done there. Second of all, this was a phenomenally informative video, as always. It’s interesting, I was born nearly ten years after the first CDs were released but I’d never purchased a Beatles CD until 2009 when Please Please Me (of all albums) caught my eye. I was obsessed from that point but I also fell into the hype of the remasters and completely negated the existence of those original CDs. Now I think it’s worth taking a listen. Thanks for the great video!
Very enjoyable video Andrew! The release of the Beatles on CD in 1987 prompted me to go out and buy my first CD player - it was a Sony Discman which I bought in 1988. My first CD purchase was Past Master Vol 1 and Band On The Run. I eventually bought all of the Beatles discs within the next few months and while I was disappointed that the first four were in mono I completely understand it with hindsight. I have to admit I was more excited about the mono box in 2009 so I made sure I got that the week it came out. Watching your video will inspire me to do a A/B comparison between the 87 and 09 discs. Thanks again for sharing this!
On first listening to the 1987 CDs I remember thinking certain songs faded out a second or so earlier compared to the vinyl versions I was familiar with. I'm guessing they did this to avoid obvious hiss from the tapes. Now I'm so used to the CDs when I listened to an original vinyl single last week I noticed it *did* fade a fraction later so I wasn't imagining it!
I grew up in the 90s/2000s. CDs were common and cassettes were somewhat common too. Records felt old fashioned and out of touch. Don't get me wrong, I love vinyl (I own over 500 records and all of the Beatles UK albums) but CDs are to my knowledge, the best physical format. It wasn't until I got into vinyl, cassettes and shellac discs, that I realized how excellent CDs sounded. Being born into the CD era presented them as standard. Shouldn't all music sound as good as CDs? I was very wrong. It took me years to realize this.
Love your videos. They are very interesting and informative. One note about vinyl sales outselling CDs in the U.S. This is in dollars, not units, which makes sense since the average cost for an LP in the U.S. is $24.99 while the average cost of a CD is $12.99, almost double the price.
It's good that you noted that the 2009 Mono Help! and Rubber Soul contain their original Stereo Mixes. I have a 1987 German CD of Revolver that I swear blows away the British and U.S. versions. It just has so much depth and detail that it's almost shocking. After watching this video I'm glad that I held on to all of my 1987 Beatles CDs. How does the Japanese Abbey Road handle John Lennon's blood-curdling scream in I Want You (She's So Heavy)? It clips on the 1987 CD but they managed to have corrected it on the 2009 release. There were also special editions of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album in mini-LP reproductions. Also, who manufactured the Beatles Singles Collection and EP Collection CDs? How about a review of The Beatles USB Box?
I always find the CDs made in the 1980s not only analogue and mixing problems etc, it usually has strong digital jitter effects because of bad digital clocking. And as far as I can remember none of the Beatles CDs from That time make a difference. So I usually prefer the versions from the newer times. My favorite Stg. peppers eg. is the 50th anniversary version, it‘s unbelievable good.
Many people prefer the CD because it’s harder to scratch it or get dirt on it, they’re more durable, they take up less room in your home, and usually they could put more songs than vinyl. If there is such a demise of the CD how come they are so expensive on Amazon? They should be giving them away
I think you’re right I love vinyl but I love the CDs more because they have more tracks you can put in them and I think they should be sold at lower prices including big huge box sets.
Trouble is when a CD gets scratched a whole track or two can be rendered completely unplayable, skipping and sticking irretrievably - something which CAN happen with vinyl but is much harder to do without doing heavy deliberate damage to the disc.
CDs have a good balance of portability and durability whilst still retaining the album at work (albeit smaller) and notes. And they can accommodate extra tracks and videos. They have the added advantage of being able to skip tracks etc without damaging.
Great video. I have all three sets and my favourite is the mono for all the albums. The music sounds more immediate to my ears. I also have the U.S. box set and it is soooo much fun. BTW, alot of people are making comparisons to vinyl here. I love cds, but a well mixed, well pressed album on good quality vinyl played back on a high quality system sounds more dynamic and lively than digital formats to my ear. CDs, as great as they are, sound more compressed to me (this is a broad genralization and doesn't always hold true, and sometimes I prefer the cd version...and yes the surface nose on some vinyl is too much!).
Interesting that CD sales are also rising again now. And although they were outsold by vinyl that is in monetary terms. In unit sales CDs are still ahead because they are roughly half the price (a neat reversal of 30 years ago). It's nice to have your favourite material in both formats actually because each reveals something slightly different about the music and, as Andrew says, CDs are currently terrific value.
Quite right - CDs still outsell vinyl in every country in the world; in the UK, 11.6m CDs were sold in 2022 against just 5.5m vinyl records, but the BPI and others have unscrupulously tried to suggest the opposite by only referring to revenue rather than sales, no doubt to boost sales of the much more expensive format. Funny, that...
Also, CD is much smaller than aa LP. Plus, if you take care of it then it will last more than 40 years of playing. CDs are the best overall audio medium to have/own as compared to LP, tape, MP3, Flak, and any kind of steaming.
Recently listened to The Beatles official RUclips channel MMT, and it’s so bass heavy. These CDs or transfers of them are my preferred “on the go” way of listening to The Beatles. Thanks for the content.
Got a Phillips CD player and a copy of Def Leppard Hysteria around 1987, sounded so damn good was impressed with the technology, plus you could dub some damn good sounding cassettes from CDs using dolbly C and metal tapes.
Another great video Andrew. I've always been a big supporter of the CD format for numerous reasons...far too many to list here...but long story short. ..if you take care of your CD'S you will have a fantastic sounding version of the albums you love. ..with no popping. .clicking or need of record cleaning...plus the fidelity of a CD is much greater then vinyl. I own the complete 2009 Beatles catalog in stereo ...but I also own quite a few of the US album versions on CD...those came with both the stereo and mono versions of the songs. Personally I like the stereo versions of Hard Days Night. .Beatles for Sale and Sgt Pepper but the first 2 are a must in Mono. ..same with Rubber Soul. But again...this is all personal taste. Great stuff..looking forward to your next video.
When i really started to pay attention to music in 1998 i would record music off radio on cassettes. In 2000 i started buying CDs and haven't stopped. Been finding good deals on CDs on Ebay,Amazon and at thrift shops and book stores. Now Lps are a little harder to find for a good deal. Great in depth video about The Beatles early CD releases.
I really appreciate your videos. Alas, this makes me regret getting rid of my - once prized - first generation Beatles CD collection. I joined the 2009 craze - both mono and stereo - and I uncritically accepted as the new cannon. But you can't blame me... Listening to SGT Pepper, MMT, and the White Album in mono was magical. I will look for some of these first generation at second hand shops. Thank you!
Totally agree that now is the time to be building your CD collection before they become the next big collectible thing. I buy hundreds of CDs from charity shops of albums you would never find cheap on vinyl. You can discover great albums on CD in shops where the only vinyl to be found is Val Doonigan and Englebert Humperdinck.
I remember feeling angry and outraged by the massacre they made to Beatles music in the 1987 CD's. I completed my CD set between 1989 and 1990, and too well do I recall the indignant feeling that all those new mixes had been done by incompetent people who neither loved nor cared, nor even knew about the impressive Beatle legacy. In particular, most of the fadeouts in the earlier records were mercilessly butchered, and I remember my rage at listening to the "Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!" CD rendition where Paul's screaming fadeout had been brutally cut off, just as the falsetto "la-la-la-la-la" in "Misery" 's coda. Memory fails me now and I don't have the records at hand, but I remember how nasty and disrespectful the treatment to Beatle music in most CD's sounded and felt back then. I also missed the charming little anomalies/errors I had grown with, such as the brief cut in Lennon's harmonica at the beginning of "I should have known better" which was listlessly smoothed over in the spurious CD rendition, and Paul's voice cracking in the second ".... was in vain" in the sweet "If I fell". I felt that the system had not had enough with murdering Lennon, they had to murder The Beatles themselves in as many ways as they could. Now it's all really over and, at 62, I don't care that much any longer, but I still believe that a sinister cabal of idiots, oblivious of any notion of history and heritage, had taken over the music industry. The same happened in England overall, a country I used to love and admire, but I feel so embarrassed about and so sorry for today. The show can't go on, and this "curtains" time is bitter and sad indeed......
Glad to read the truth, I grew up with cd versions and it's a shame idiots can't release the real versions. Idiots shouldn't touch they couldn't understand
If you read Mark Lewishon’s Beatles Sessions book when it came out in the late 80s like I did then you would have discovered that those songs differed between their mono and stereo mixes. In the mid 60s more time was spent creating the mono mixes then time spent creating the stereo mixes as mono was more popular with the general public at the time. This is why a lot of Beatles fanatics prefer the mono mixes as heard on the original releases as this was how the songs were meant to be heard.
@@thefonzkissthe mono mixes were edited, the stereo was not, so you hear the vocal error in “If I Fell” only in stereo, just like the harmonica part was corrected in mono, but not stereo.
Just discovered this channel, daygum...what a find (for me). This video right here is amazing. FANTASTIC presentation, just boss level. Wonderful content, wonderful content. THANK YOU so much for this and all of your other videos, (I've been binging the last two days.) : )
Andrew I bloody loved this video. A1* mate. The retro introduction was incredible. And your memories of Our Price and of buying your CD player ready for the Beatles on CD releases and going home with your first 4 albums was just great (I loved Our Price and still have a few vinyl, CD and cassette with the Our Price stickers).And then what a great collection you put together which I find is spot on with my own preferences. Bang on mate. There is subjectivity and then there's just right, lol. And yes there's something clear and honest about those original 1965 stereo versions of HELP! and Rubber Soul instead of George Martin's 1987 rethink although again it's still MONO for Rubber Soul. And is that why the 1987 Revolver sounds a bit strange then? How could they be so careless as to use a misaligned machine to do the transfer? And then using a stereo machine to transfer the first 4 MONO albums was bad too, although I did know that one. But just incredible little video mate, genuinely. For some reason this one just really touched me. Thank you. Peace and Love.
The 2009 remaster sounds fine to me in the mid-range and the high end with the one obvious exception of "She Said She Said" which was butchered. Also the beginning of the song "A Hard Day's Night" sounds like the tape has been horrifically mangled or the oxide has fallen off. It's sounds like an old cassette. The master tape sounded perfect on the 1992 "Red" CD set. Also the entire "A Hard Day's Night" ALBUM seems to be rolled off on the high end as well. My ears keep expecting higher frequencies and a more open sound stage but instead it sounds blanketed and claustrophobic. Did they mis-transfer the whole master tape or has it degraded?
I am a younger Beatles fan and my Dad weaned me on them. My first experience was the Yellow Submarine Songtrack, on CD and Tape (and eventually the first LP I bought, imported from the UK), as one parent’s car had a CD player and tape deck, and the other only had a tape deck. To this day, I still love those remixes and they and the film and they give me a profound sense of nostalgia (I eagerly look forward to Giles taking a crack a remixing Only A Northern Song). I got the 2009 stereo and mono sets from my local library and imported them into my iTunes (my mom didn’t have the money (they had since divorced) and my Dad had all the 87-88 CDs and the two OG Captial sets and wasn’t gonna re-buy it all AGAIN). I have listened to these across various Apple devices over the years and love them all. Though, perhaps because I am someone who listens to my music on my phone, I have no problem enjoying and loving the remixes for the Beatles albums Giles has done for Sgt. Pepper, White Album, 1, LOVE, and Abbey Road, along with the new mix of All Things Must Pass. I would love to actually get a copy of the Mono box now but ebay prices are yikes. I look forward to the Let It Be box in October and I expect it’ll be great! I’m not a big audiophile guy, but I appreciate your opinions about the various CD releases. I often have trouble decerning things like EQ difference or warmth but I like the perspective of your decisions about each set in your ideal set.
The e.p collection from 1992 gets over-looked once again.I can't remember if it contains the same mono mastering as the 1987 editions.I'll have to check.
As far as i know, the E.P Collection had different remastering in some songs, for example She Loves You sounds much better than the 1988 remaster from Past Masters, the Red Album CD from 1993 includes the 1992 remaster
I visited Korea in early 1992, and bought a Beatles compilation cd that seemed legit, despite being on a Korean label. The sound quality is quite excellent.
For casual listening, I've gone largely with 'The Beatles in Mono' box along with the 1987 CDs of 'Abbey Road' and 'Let It Be' because I do most of my listening over headphones. But this is somebody who was brought up on his dad's "breadbox", so I'll always have a place in my heart for the stereo mixes. I also have The Blue Album for singles/mixes included in Past Masters Volume Two but missing from the Mono Masters (namely, "Old Brown Shoe" and "The Ballad of John & Yoko").
How could anyone dislike the Brothers In Arms album not only is it brilliant songwriting and musicianship it's also a very well mixed album particularly the drum solo intro to Money For Nothing and So Far Away
The tracks that got radio play were overplayed and now ruin the album for me. The same goes with Van Halen's 1984 and U2 's Joshua Tree. They were inescapable and while I initially loved them, they now are like fingernails on a chalkboard.
You are spot-on on that Sergeant Pepper 87 CD got one on eBay for cheap and it does sound great but still love the Giles Martin mix a little bit better😀✌
I'm not familiar with the 1987 issues as it was before my time. All I know is that having got stuck into both 2009 boxes, it's mono for me all the way for the first four albums and Sgt Pepper. In fact, the 2009 stereo pepper wasn't good at all to me, but weirdly the 2017 remix (especially the 5.1 mix) have turned it into my favourite beatles album. On a similar note, I like how this channel recognises how much sound quality affects the enjoyment of music!
Very good history background... I have a lot of the cd's. I should see what I have. I DO have the mono cd box. Also, I don't like, Brothers In Arms, either.
In general I'm not big on remasters, but I was impressed with the Beatles 2009 stereo remasters. I found it had a pleasing mix with more detail than the previous versions I'd heard, but I found relative to a lot of remasters I was less aware of the compression. The 1987 remasters were okay, some were better than others, but I can't remember which ones off the top of my head, in general they were more lifeless as compared to the 2009 masters. For money reasons I decided not to go with the Beatles in Mono remaster, although it looked great and I was very tempted. I also originally listened to the Beatles on various vinyl releases although I never kept track of the specifics. The Beatles sounded great on the vinyl's I had, which were mostly from the 60's and 70s. I also had the White Album on cassette, which was actually pretty good.
Back in 2009 I compared the old vs new and preferred the newer ones. I managed to get the Black stereo boxset. A friend actually gave me the breadbox (without the CDs)
Tell you what, the mono Magical Mystery Tour CD from the late-90s ep box set is so rich, deep, clear, straightforward and upfront that it easily takes top billing for quality alogside any pic-n-mix of tracks from all three 2009 collections. I prefer a huge bulk of Past Masters from 1987, being much crisper and brighter. I think too much overthinking went into the 'feel' in 2009, leaving many tracks sounding wooly - even if they are deeper. Love the stereo of all four first albums though, sweet alongside old Japanese releases of the same stereo albums.
Good to FINALLY hear someone else make note of the "poor EQ choices" on the 2009 CD of "Revolver." They turned "She Said She Said" from one of the most explosive rockers ever into a polite pop track. Glad I kept my vinyl!
I sold the 1987 cds when I bought the 2009 ones but recently bought the 1987 cds again. Thanks to this video I realized I should have just only rebought the later albums on the 87 cds.
My dad had no vinyl Records, but he had a ton of cds! He also burned cds from friends over to CD-rs or even minidisc and cassette (it was when I discovered dads old minidisc player in the dusty drawer with a few minidiscs right next to it, that I also discovered the Beatles. He had copied some songs in random order (not an album, nor a compilation). The first one was “We can work it out” thus making this the first Beatles song I remember listening to). That’s why I love cds! They’re a huge part of my childhood. I now own tons of cds (bought at flee markets for example) and a few Beatles box sets. Spectacular video as usual!! Keep up the wonderful work! :)
Those 1987 releases do have a charm that I felt were missing in the 2009 issues, even though the packaging in 2009 was fantastic. I do have the Parlophone Bread Box UK issue , alongside the US issues that came out in a longbox Capitol designed. I also own both stereo and mono box sets of 2009.
Andrew, your posts are very informative, visually striking and your narration is top notch. I wish they’d let you bring up some of the Bootlegs and their history, but I know that’s just dreaming. Keep these great insights coming!
Enjoyed your vid. 1987 Worked Downtown San Francisco. First break that day, run to Rainbow Records on Market St., buy all available Beatles...that evening on my Sony CDP-101, slightly disappointed they are mono, but I was impressed. Had that Japanese Abbey Road I got at a small specialty Record store in Daly City, Ca. I always thought it was very hissy. I also have a 1998 White Album anniversary edition. It is mini gatefold, and all the pics are mini, with an acrylic slipcover. I was wondering why you didn't include the 2015 Sgt Pepper remastering, 2018 White Album Remastering and the 2019 Remastering of Abbey Road. All three of them are superb in 5.1 OMG.
Brings back some lovely memories of 'Our Price' record shop and the Beatles CD releases of 1987. I had just bought a CD player and my sister bought each CD on the day it was released. I think the 2009 remasters actually make the Beatles sound like a more modern band. maybe it was because I had spent over 20 years listening to the 1987 releases. The best listening I have ever had with these albums is when I heard them played on classic 1960s HiFi from a PC and DAC source (using rips of the 2009 issues). The recordings were not made for high resolution modern equipment - you need the warmth of the old valve amps and the lumbering huge speakers of the 1960s
You and I must be about the same age! I remember exactly where I was when I first heard about the Beatles being released on CD - in my car driving to work, it was an item on the Today programme on Radio 4. They even played a burst of 'I Saw Her Standing There' which sounded really great over FM radio and I imagine caused some of the older listeners to have fits of apoplexy and write letters to the Times. I think the first four Beatles CD albums came packed together in a rigid pvc sleeve. Mine have the ADD/AAD sticker. Although I am now firmly back into vinyl records, I do remember how wonderful CDs seemed when they first came out, sounding far better than my scratchy old vinyl that had been played to death on a Dansette since the 1960s. CDs had no clicks, pops or jumping and you could skip past the tracks you didn't want to hear so often (Within You, Without You) I tend to prefer the mono mixes on both vinyl and CD - at the risk of sounding heretical, I don't think George Martin really understood stereo at all - or maybe to be fair, the source recordings didn't offer him the scope to create a proper 3D sound stage. Thanks for another great video. I do hope you will cover the coloured vinyl Capitol juke-box Beatles singles at some stage?
I was at Silver Platters the day of each CD album grouping releases. Exciting times! I still have my 1987/88 albums along with each of their long boxes. I was careful to open them and glued the openings so they all still look brand new. Of course being the Beatles nut I have been since 1974, I also have every other CD release.
I would have to agree because the Beatles on CD is great especially the remastered 2009 is so much better than making 87 Perkins but you and I are big Beatles fans I love the Beatles in any format except for digital streaming.
I’m watching your channel since a while. Very interesting topic as I’m into CD and LP. Your channel is very informative and you have a very relaxing British voice. Thank you for your work.
Here in America, we have the Beatles Capitol Albums Vol 1 and 2 released in 2006. First the songs are in Stereo, then again in order in Mono. You should here the stereo version of "She's A Woman". That opening guitar sounds like it's being played in a huge dome. Pretty cool.
I have a 30th Anniversary limited edition of The White Album on CD. It came in a digipak modeled off the vinyl sleeve instead of the bulky double-jewel case. It also included mini versions of the posters.
@@trusso11783 it's actually an improvement over the original CD for the fact that it corrected the indexing on certain tracks (for instance, the acoustic intro to Bungalow Bill is placed at the end of Wild Honey Pie on the old CD)
In my opinion, the only *real* way to judge the different editions of Sgt Pepper's is by how they handled the high-frequency "dog whistle" tone at the end of the album, before the looping inner groove! ;) Seriously, they do have differences. When I first heard the 2017 mix, I noticed that the tone sounded different from the 2009 CD I was used to. So I used Audacity to take a frequency spectrum plot of that tone on the 2009 stereo CD, and found that though it has a peak at 15kHz, it's not a pure tone - it's a very wide peak, very noisy, with several other peaks at other frequencies. This means that it's quite loud even below 15kHz, making it quite easy to hear. Then I took an equivalent frequency plot of the 2017 version, and found that it's a nearly pure 16kHz tone (not 15!), with an extremely sharp, narrow peak. This higher frequency and less noisy peak means that 2017 is a lot harder to hear than 2009. (I don't have the 1987 CD, or an original vinyl LP, to compare it to.) IIRC, from digging around a few forum discussions on the subject (Steve Hoffman forum etc) apparently the dog whistle tone on the original vinyl LP was never recorded onto tape, but was generated at the mastering stage. (The post I saw cited Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book here, so that *should* be reliable info.) So for the 1987 and 2009 CD, they took the sound from a vinyl copy instead, hence the noise. So presumably for the 2017 edition, they must have generated the pure tone again from scratch. (But at 16kHz instead of 15?) Not sure if everything in the above paragraph about the origins of accurate, but it's what I saw people talking about when I looked into it at the time!
Really informative as ever Andrew. Apart from the first 4 I bought them all on release date in the HMV box sets. These were a bit tacky apart from the Sgt Pepper one which I loved at the time. I remember thinking that I’d never need to buy another copy of the albums again as the sound would be that amazing! I do still like the sound of them on the whole. Listened to Abbey Road today and it sounded great
The day Sgt. Pepper was released on CD, I was playing the classical music station at the store I helped run. Morning Pro Musica was hosted by Robert J. Lertsema, from WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. In that warm, low, slow voice, he introduced the CD as a masterpiece in it’s genre, and as an historic release. Then he played it in full, without interruption, right through the inner groove.
I was first getting into the Beatles music not long after the CDs were released. Cassettes were fine for everything else, but the Beatles I just HAD to have on CD. I took the nearly $200 I got at graduation and bought a small CD player. I would go into my local music store and order a new CD each week. Then I moved on to the McCartney/Wings CDs. I still have all those old discs. Man, those were good times!
Barclay James Harvest had similar phasing problems remastering the albums they recorded at Abbey Road. EMI still had the original machine they had been recorded on and the tapes played fine on that which reduced the complexity of remastering them. I wonder if it was the same machine?! Might well be as they were recording at Abbey Road from 69-73.
I spent 30 years in the US Air Force. From 1984 to 1987 I as assigned to Mildenhall and lived in Ely. We would frequently go to Cambridge to shop and I spent some time in Our Price records. I remember questioning the staff on a couple of occasions. Perhaps you helped me then. It is a small world. Thanks for your videos on the Beatles. Steve
My first real experience listening to the Beatles was cd. Around 1992 I can recall going into Hastings (RIP :() and seeing the "bread box" on the shelf. I think it was over $199.99 at the time. Which was a gob of money for a working young man. I can still remember trying out a new Beatles album as I worked out on the treadmill and bike. That was my Beatles listening session back in time. Nothing quite like discovery the Beatles for the first time. Im glad I didnt marathon an all day session but rather listened to one album a week. So, my first exposure as an american was to the british versions. Did it right ;) Still have the cds though the bread box fell apart after a few years. The little black booklet I didnt discover until months later. Such a cool little read. Here are my preferences: Please Please Me-mono 2009 (I think they got this one right despite tape issues(?)) cheating with needledrop of the Hortzu as far as stereo. With The Beatles-(I cheated) needledrop of the "wide" stereo version. Though the mono 2009 isnt bad. Beatles For Sale- I think thats the one they got right in the 2009 set in stereo. Not a mono mix fan either of this album. A Hard Days Night- dont like any of them. But I guess the 2009 versions are ok. (Accept for the glitch or whatever the heck that is at the begining chord on the stereo. Was that done on purpose? Because it makes no sense as to why that crinkly sound is there. ) Too bad, because imo this is the best early Beatles album. Should be given the deluxe treatment and redone proper as a mono/stereo package. If Peppers can then this should be also. Help!- the canadian one that has the original 65 stereo Rubber Soul-the canadian cd that has the 65 original stereo (not a big fan of the stereo mix of this album either. So mono 2009 also) We need a stereo remix in the year 2030. Maybe by then technology will catch up to do something besides the dreadful "demixing" process of today. But I digress :D Revolver-dont like any of them. Poor Revolver. My favorite Beatles album and its been misaligned, wacked out with weird equalization and mistreated :( We need this redone as a deluxe package with AAA mastering of the stereo. Needledrop original stereo to DVD-A for this title also. (cheated again. Im just a cheat lets face it!) MMT-the 87 stereo is very nice, though I prefer the mono mix. The 2009 mono from the box is well done. Sgt Peppers-87 cd sounds balanced and well done. The Beatles- Ill go for the 87. Pretty close to the tapes from what I gather. The 2009 just seems jacked up and level matched across all the songs. Some say the 87 anniversary edition sounds better, but I cant tell any difference in the regular 87 and 87 anniversary. Abbey Road-japanese black triangle all the way. Ive always wondered if this is the same mastering as the Pro-Use lp? Let It Be- the 87 sounds good. Im one of those meanies that hate the remixes and think that the Beatles still havent been served well on digital on some seminal albums. Could be so much better Id think. Maybe one day theyll do the stereo's over. Or at least A Hard Days Nigjt and Revolver stereos. Id like AAA for all stereos but more concerned about different mastering and eq. So needle drops it is for me on many of these! (mono transfer to stereo head machine for the first four 87s...eep...gee whiz ...still cant get wrapped around that one)
Ah. So many memories with those classic CDs. So many car rides with "Sgt. Pepper's" and "The White Album" and "Abbey Road" blaring from my dad's broken speakers. I could punch my younger self in the face for losing my Beatles collection, then punch myself with the other hand for losing my Pink Floyd collection.
Great video Andrew! Based on the education I got from you, I recently bought the 1987 copy of the white album. I also got Abbey Road but with a newer mix from a few years ago.
Hard to beat a physical format (true of books too), but fortunately streaming services like Apple Music are starting to offer lossless streaming which is a convenient way to have access to that level of sound quality. Great video as always!
Until watching this video I never even thought about my copy of The White Album. I bought the HMV limited edition box set but, looking at the disc inside, mine is also numbered 25846. I knew the HMV box was numbered but I hadn't even considered the fact that EMI would have numbered the CDs.
I got my first ever Beatles album in 2013 (I'm now only 25) and it was a 2009 remaster of SGT Pepper, and is hands down my favourite to this day, and plan in collecting all of the CDs for a perfect road trip collection
1:38 hahahaha! Great stuff Andrew! I was a 6 year old then with various family trips to the Norfolk / Suffolk coast from landlocked Bedfordshire. It was pretty much the only album (via cassette) in the car.
Wow. My dad had a Mantovani album "Latin Rendezvous" in Stereo. That London label showed that exact "Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound" across it. Let me tell you, that is one of the best sounding albums I've ever heard in my lifetime! The versions of "Malaguena" and "Granada" are so lively sounding, it is like the orchestra is in your living room. Sorry, being off topic.
Would have liked your thoughts on the very latest 50th anniversary issues/mixes. But you’ve got me now rooting through boxes looking for my old 1987 CDs! 👍
When did they have high manufacturing costs for CD's? As far back as the very early 90s, the cost of CD manufacture was £1.00 and the typical price of a Beatles CD was £16.49! I'm sure you can see the profit margin there! If manufacturing costs for CD's WERE high (which I'm very skeptical about) it must have been in the very early days. Record companies made an absolute killing with CD's.
I also recall a urban legend going around at the time in the US that a record company only needed to sell 5K CD units to financially break-even. In other words, if a CD title was released, and not a _farthing,_ or in the US, a _penny_ was used for marketing or advertising the CD; just the sale of 5,000 units would recoup the expense it took to manufacture and distribute the disc.
@@bloqk16 I think his assertion of high manufacturing costs for CD's is way off the mark. At their height, the average cost over here was £12 - £15! As I said before, Beatles CD's were even more expensive at £16.49!! I remember reading a newspaper article from years ago saying that manufacturing costs were £1 per disk. £1 manufacturing versus £12 - £15 profit was obscene. I believe that later on, the manufacturing costs were even lower than that! That urban legend probably has a very big ring of truth to it.
During the first 5 years of Compact Discs, manufacturing costs were significantly higher than for LP records. At the format's inception, there were only two (2) CD manufacturing plants for the entire world, one in Japan and one in Hannover, West Germany. This was an advanced technology, and start-up costs were enormous. Also, the failure rate for manufactured CDs was very high (perhaps around 50%), and with the inception of video Laserdiscs ("Discovision") which launched in 1978 there wasn't really any history of mass-manufacturing a consumer product of this type before. At great expense and financial risk, a number of companies built such CD manufacturing plants and by 1990 manufacturing capacity started to catch up with consumer demand. At that point, there were some (alleged) efforts within the industry at "price maintenance" racketeering for CDs. Somewhere after 1990, the per-unit manufacturing cost-basis for cassettes, CDs and the vanishing LP format became near-equal. However, a messy part of what consumers experienced wasn't just greedy record companies but greedy artists who at the time could demand and get higher per-unit royalties on CDs compared with cassettes or LPs. In retrospect, for the vast majority of performing artists the period from 1985-1999 was the last time they could actually earn decent royalty revenue from album sales. As for the companies investing in developing new CD manufacturing facilities from 1982 through 1992, financially their risk taking was handsomely rewarded. And finally, you are right that for the enormous financial risk entailed by record companies themselves with a new audio format, they did obtain massive profits for quite a few years. Alas, the industry's fat-profits years became a memory after 1998.
I love the Beatles on CDs and now I’m beginning to like the 1987 version of the Beatles music I not only love the 2019 masters but I also really love the remixes are great.
Wow, now I know why those first four CDs sounded so bad. I remember running out and buying all them as they were being released, but was underwhelmed by the sonics of the firs four. I always loved the 2009 remasters, but I am with you 100% about being irritated by the cleaning up of the little noises and imperfections in the original masters. You've convinced me to revisit my copies of the later albums from the 87 releases and compare them to the 2009. Another great video!
i'm working my way through your work reverse chronologically, so kindly disregard if i'm just late to the party...but if you haven't done these "ultimate collection" lists for other formats, i'd love to see you do them someday! vinyl, of course, but even cassette too
The Brothers In Arms album helped to break through CD sales. I've now got three copies of it. The original CD , the 20th anniversary release and also part of the Dire Straits boxed set released in 2020
You’re right about building a CD collection. So many people are donating their CDs to charity shops and you can pick them up for cheap. And unlike a second hand record or cassette their sound quality does not decline unless the disc is damaged.
It's like a repeat of 20 years ago when you could've picked up reasonable-sounding used LPs for maybe $5 or $6.
And yet on Amazon they are charging ridiculous prices for CDs
@@brenthooton3412 I’m the late 90s I was picking up LPs for pocket change. Basically in a two year period of 1999-2000 I would find some for as little as around 70c in today’s money. The quality was hit and miss. Now of course Beatles records were not cheap then and for that money you’d just buy the CD anyway, but I promise you only 60s original issue records were commanding a premium. Back in the 70s in Australia, Parlophone records had an orange label revertting to black in the 80s. But records could be had for cheap. At the time what I was truly looking for was a US Veejay issue of a Beatles LP but I couldn’t find one at the time.
Totally agree and it’s quite fun to pick up some of your favorite music for cheap, as opposed to buying used vinyl records at inflated prices. I do collect both CDs and LPs though 👍
While LPS are good if you want the best sound for your albums, CDs are also a good alternative for digital remasters
I'm so glad you mentioned the muffled sound at the opening of the song "A Hard Day's Night" on the 2009 stereo remaster. How could they let it be released like that?!?!
I have the original 1987 CD of Sgt. Peppers and the 1995 CDs of the Red/Blue albums. They both sound great. CD is truly the best overall medium for audio recordings.
I agree. The 87 collection is still the best
@@dannyolortegui3776not for all the albums, the first four are bad
Vinyl is the vibes.
As long as they aren't overly compressed or mixed horribly. I'll take the Beatles early mono pressings over the 87 CD's in almost all cases.
@@DimitrisDr3am
CDs are never compressed. Vinyl is better if played on a laser turntable, and the vinyl was brand new and never played before. They also have some of the mono songs on the CDs. I never herd horribly mixed songs on CDs.
On Friday I went to a local charity shop. I was browsing through the CDs while a man behind the counter was sorting through a batch of CDs that had been donated that day. Amongst the CDs he was checking I spied a copy of Please Please Me without a case. The man picked up the CD and told me that he had never liked the Beatles despite being English and alive during the height of Beatlemania. He regarded the CD for a few moments and admitted that he didn't know any of the songs and I assured him that he would recognize some of the songs if he heard them. By then I had picked out a few CDs and placed them on the counter, but before I coukd offer to buy Please Please Me he put it in one the cases of one of the CDs I was buying and told me he was going to throw it out anyway and I could have it for free! Case or no case I'm glad I went to that shop last Friday. Incidently it's a 1987 copy made in Australia. It's in mono and I have yet to hear it, but it will be fun to listen to it in the car while I drive around town.
Never liked The Beatles eh? What a sad fellow
I bought my copy of that disc in Australia in the 1990s. It’s a solid mix. I would say that the recording techniques of the 1960s did not anticipate the S/N ratios possible today, so it doesn’t sound as full as modern recordings, but it does reveal what the producers wanted to drop on vinyl, so it sounds adequate. It’s a good look into the minds of 1960s recording artists, as if these records were being mixed on modern equipment we would have something much different.
@@shakcmusic well its really just based on taste, its no big surprise
@@shakcmusic Such people exist. In fact I once had a college lecturer from Wales who hated music full stop. He loved Rugby though 😂😂😂😂
In my opinion, Please Please Me is the album that fared the best from that initial batch of '87 Mono Beatles CDs. Something about the 2-track recordings doesn't sound too bad to my ears being a bit smoothed over by the tape transfer. It has some sentimentality for being my first Beatles CD but for a full listen I would still reach for the 2009 Mono CD first.
Before they released the official Beatles cds in 87 I bought the 1st Beatles related cds, they were : Beatles First (Polydor), Wings Greatest (Japan),and Milk and Honey (Polydor). This was around 1984. Great video, thx!
You're not the only one working in a record store who got 'Brothers In Arms' burned into your brain by too many in-store plays. Ha! :)
(And I was astounded at the number of copies we moved of that album weekly in Waco, Texas.)
I don't know if you still read comments on this video, but I wanted to mention something weird I noticed with a particular CD over here in the United States. Our 1987 CD of Rubber Soul still used the American cover artwork. It has the brown letters, and even the Capitol logo in the corner. What's weird is that even though it has the Capitol artwork, it has the same tracklisting as the canon version of the album, and underneath the tracklist is the parlophone logo and the EMI copyright information. It's just a really weird release, and I'm pretty sure this only applies to Rubber Soul because my copy of Help! from 1987 uses the canon artwork and lacks any mention of Capitol.
Fantastic video. Great points about the various CD releases. The ol’ 87s have lots of variations due to so many pressed at various locations.
Thank you, Mike.
Wow, that's news to me. I thought that only vinyl suffer from bad pressing issues. After all, when a vinyl record is pressed, we have to consider: the quaility of the pvc used, how clean were the pressing machines, how many copies were done using the same mother, the quality of the mother, lacquers, stampers, the quality of the master tape used and some more. To me, CDs were just a copy from the approved final digital file and the only thing that would differ from different CD pressing would be the quality of the packaging (booklets, digipacks...). I thought that, soundwise, an original UK Let it Be from 1987/88 would sound exactly the same as a Brazilian copy.
I remember when the final sale 8 tracks were on a "sale" to make more space for cassette titles.
Part of the reason I think vinyl bounced back is clear. If you see the CD spinning, you just see a fast spinning disc. A regular vinyl record will just spin reliably within view. It's all old and familiar, too. This adds to the appeal.
No matter the format, each of them has something unique in all of them making for something enjoyable.
I personally prefer the Mono Masters compilation over Past Masters, simply because the singles sound much better with their mono mixes in most cases. There isn’t a direct correlation, so you need Past Masters to get a few of the later singles tracks, but it’s worth the extra cost to get both. I will also give a shout-out to the CD singles and EP collections from the early 90s. These were a big improvement over the 87/88 CDs for many of the tracks… especially for the early catalog. I think I might even prefer them over the 2009 CDs in many cases.
Can't buy genuine mono cds at a realistic price unfortunately.
@@andrewbrazier9664 Unless you've got $200 to spare. Lol.
When the first 4 1987 CD’s came out, bootlegs CD’s featuring the UK stereo stereo mixes started appearing, as well as session bootlegs that sounded like they were ripped from the master tapes! People speculated that while compiling his “Beatles Recording Sessions” book, runners between the EMI vaults and Mark Lewisohn’s listening station were diverting the tapes to bootleggers. Also around this time, the individual MFSL Beatles albums were circulating on the market, giving diehard fans a listen to the stereo versions they were being denied on CD.
I'm sure that was happening. No way it could not have been, despite anyone in charge's "best" intentions. Mind you, it's telling that even after the XDR mono cassettes came out, EMI were STILL manufacturing the brown-top, stereo editions of the first four albums on cassette, well into June 1989. This anomaly was masked throughout the supply chain and sales returns by virtue of them both having the same barcodes as each other. They didn't do the same with the vinyl I believe, because during 88-89 there were still many pre-digital stereo copies in back-stock, which it seemed record shops found perfectly easy to order from EMI upon request.
I bought my first CD player near Christmas time 1988. At the same time, I bought the entire Beatles catalog---the 13 studio albums, and the two Past Masters. These were the only CDs I owned for nearly two years, playing them over and over. I since have built up a collection of close to 1000 CDs, and I still have them all. Although I have dubbed most of them onto a hard drive,, I still listen to CDs quite a bit, as there is a nostalgia that you only get from hearing them as I did all those years ago, either on my stereo system, or even just an old boom box.
I just got me the 87/88 CDs in the wodden box! I’ve been owning both 2009 sets for some time but craggy a complete collection. So I got me the first CD editions! Great addition to the collection 🎉🎉❤️❤️✌🏻✌🏻
Hope you enjoy it!
I totally agree with your choice of the 1987 transfers for the later albums. They are more visceral-sounding than the remasters. However, there is one tidbit worth mentioning: in 1986-87, Canada got sent by accident digital transfers of the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul, not the George Martin remixes. In pre-Internet days, nobody noticed the mistake and those versions made it onto CD there and remained in print well into the 1990s. These are my favourite versions of those two albums, having the edge over the transfers on the '09 mono box, in my opinion. Check them out if you get the chance.
I don't know man, when I bought for the first time the 1987 Cd versions of certain Beatles albums I felt that there was something missing when it came to the quality of the sound and I couldn't wait for the moment when they were going to be remastered after such a very long time. After I finally got them I got so much more pleased with the sound quality overall, maybe not so much with Abbey Road which didn't sound to me that much better. And I love how the Mono remasters sound. It's all subjective I guess
MrDustpile
1 second ago
Tell you what, the mono Magical Mystery Tour CD from the late-90s ep box set is so rich, deep, clear, straightforward and upfront that it easily takes top billing for quality alogside any pic-n-mix of tracks from all three 2009 collections.
I prefer a huge bulk of Past Masters from 1987, being much crisper and brighter. I think too much overthinking went into the 'feel' in 2009, leaving many tracks sounding wooly - even if they are deeper. Love he stereo of all four first albums though, sweet alongside old Japanese releases of the same stereo albums.
I just found both in a thrift store for 5$ I can't wait to compare them with their 87 counterparts
Speaking of which (Canadian '87 CDs), we got them with "Stereo" on the cover despite being those same Mono CDs. In the case of 'Please Please Me', I can't listen to that one any other way, that CD was my first Beatles album at the tender age of 5.
Also, 'Rubber Soul' used the Capitol Records cover with gold lettering, but it was the UK Parlophone track listing. Funny
U2’s Joshua Tree has an accidental early remix out there on CD for largely the same reason
I also bought the first-ever Beatles CDs back in '87 here in the US....like you, I bought a CD player, but mine cost just several hundred dollars US. I think that in the UK CD players cost more because tech overseas was always a bit more backwards than in the States...in any case, I did hear the "squeaks" in Ringo's drum pedals! Keep in mind that, at the time, compact discs were all the rage and I had all of the US Beatles albums on compact disc (which I played on my Walkman) and the sound was horrific! A the time record stores were 100% vinyl and stores CDs were so rare that they (the jewel boxes) were packaged in these very long cardboard boxes (?), presumably to prevent people from pinching them from stores. I still have them 30-plus years later, although I threw those stupid cardboard boxes away. Yeah, I remember the SGT. Pepper cutouts...I was thoroughly confused by them since I never actually owned the vinyl with the original sleeve. Having the proper UK albums instead of the cobbled US versions was a real plus as well. I had Yesterday & Today on vinyl and the cover was super boring with the Beats sitting around a large piece of luggage? (steam trunk, I think) I tried to peel the cover off to see if the original "butchered babies" cover underneath was there but, alas, I just ruined the sleeve to no avail.
I agree on most of your choices for the ultimate Beatles CD box. When the first four CDs came out in 1987, the only one I bought was A Hard Day's Night, and it certainly didn't make me fall for the new CD format. My US LPs sounded much better so I knew something was very wrong. I was very selective with the following Beatle CD releases I bought. The early Sgt. Pepper and MMT discs are still my go to versions. I've never been pleased with the White Album on CD until the most recent remix, and I still don't really like any Abbey Road CD. Nothing seems to sound as good as my 1970s UK LP pressing. It was fun hearing your memories about the arrival of the Beatles on CD. I remember those days hanging around the record store discussing new releases and how they sounded.
First of all, how you managed to switch to producing video every week AND increase your production quality at the same time is astounding to me so well done there. Second of all, this was a phenomenally informative video, as always. It’s interesting, I was born nearly ten years after the first CDs were released but I’d never purchased a Beatles CD until 2009 when Please Please Me (of all albums) caught my eye. I was obsessed from that point but I also fell into the hype of the remasters and completely negated the existence of those original CDs. Now I think it’s worth taking a listen. Thanks for the great video!
Thank you, Luke. I really appreciate your comment.
"Brothers in Arms" was playing everywhere in 1986 and I agree with your accessment. It's even worse all these years later.
@@phillipanderson7398 Yuk !
@@phillipanderson7398 "Walk of Life"won a special Grammy award for All Time Cheesiest Keyboard Sound...
@@frankmarsh1159 and I love it lol
Very enjoyable video Andrew! The release of the Beatles on CD in 1987 prompted me to go out and buy my first CD player - it was a Sony Discman which I bought in 1988. My first CD purchase was Past Master Vol 1 and Band On The Run. I eventually bought all of the Beatles discs within the next few months and while I was disappointed that the first four were in mono I completely understand it with hindsight. I have to admit I was more excited about the mono box in 2009 so I made sure I got that the week it came out. Watching your video will inspire me to do a A/B comparison between the 87 and 09 discs. Thanks again for sharing this!
Thanks for watching and sharing your memories, Bill.
Great video....I still love my Beatles CDs, particularly the 2009 Mono box which is a thing of beauty
I have it as well, but I also have the black box set.
On first listening to the 1987 CDs I remember thinking certain songs faded out a second or so earlier compared to the vinyl versions I was familiar with. I'm guessing they did this to avoid obvious hiss from the tapes. Now I'm so used to the CDs when I listened to an original vinyl single last week I noticed it *did* fade a fraction later so I wasn't imagining it!
Great video as usual. Picked up a couple of the 2009 CDs at a library sale years ago, but never noticed the quick time files!
I grew up in the 90s/2000s. CDs were common and cassettes were somewhat common too. Records felt old fashioned and out of touch.
Don't get me wrong, I love vinyl (I own over 500 records and all of the Beatles UK albums) but CDs are to my knowledge, the best physical format. It wasn't until I got into vinyl, cassettes and shellac discs, that I realized how excellent CDs sounded.
Being born into the CD era presented them as standard. Shouldn't all music sound as good as CDs? I was very wrong. It took me years to realize this.
Love your videos. They are very interesting and informative. One note about vinyl sales outselling CDs in the U.S. This is in dollars, not units, which makes sense since the average cost for an LP in the U.S. is $24.99 while the average cost of a CD is $12.99, almost double the price.
I'm quite content with the mono box set, but I do have a soft spot for the stereo mixes of A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help.
Beatles For Sale sounds great in both mono and stereo. Help! In stereo is fine but sound really muddy in mono
1:46 To be fair, the deep cuts on Brothers in Arms that were never played in heavy rotation on radio or MTV are really good
Honestly I like this album
I honestly prefer side b of that album! Great stuff.
I guess those heavy rotations of the album really took a toll on him. Lol
There was 6 singles issued from it out of 9 tracks! Side B is definitely stronger I agree.
It's good that you noted that the 2009 Mono Help! and Rubber Soul contain their original Stereo Mixes. I have a 1987 German CD of Revolver that I swear blows away the British and U.S. versions. It just has so much depth and detail that it's almost shocking. After watching this video I'm glad that I held on to all of my 1987 Beatles CDs. How does the Japanese Abbey Road handle John Lennon's blood-curdling scream in I Want You (She's So Heavy)? It clips on the 1987 CD but they managed to have corrected it on the 2009 release. There were also special editions of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album in mini-LP reproductions. Also, who manufactured the Beatles Singles Collection and EP Collection CDs? How about a review of The Beatles USB Box?
I have the 1987 Canadian Revolver disc and it sounds great! “I Want To Tell You” intro is perfect, just like the record!
He has done the USB box now
German Cd is sonopress ?
@@elchimiterecabio I'll need to check that.
@@horowizard 👍👍👍
I always find the CDs made in the 1980s not only analogue and mixing problems etc, it usually has strong digital jitter effects because of bad digital clocking. And as far as I can remember none of the Beatles CDs from That time make a difference. So I usually prefer the versions from the newer times. My favorite Stg. peppers eg. is the 50th anniversary version, it‘s unbelievable good.
Many people prefer the CD because it’s harder to scratch it or get dirt on it, they’re more durable, they take up less room in your home, and usually they could put more songs than vinyl. If there is such a demise of the CD how come they are so expensive on Amazon? They should be giving them away
I think you’re right I love vinyl but I love the CDs more because they have more tracks you can put in them and I think they should be sold at lower prices including big huge box sets.
Trouble is when a CD gets scratched a whole track or two can be rendered completely unplayable, skipping and sticking irretrievably - something which CAN happen with vinyl but is much harder to do without doing heavy deliberate damage to the disc.
CDs have a good balance of portability and durability whilst still retaining the album at work (albeit smaller) and notes. And they can accommodate extra tracks and videos. They have the added advantage of being able to skip tracks etc without damaging.
Great video. I have all three sets and my favourite is the mono for all the albums. The music sounds more immediate to my ears. I also have the U.S. box set and it is soooo much fun.
BTW, alot of people are making comparisons to vinyl here. I love cds, but a well mixed, well pressed album on good quality vinyl played back on a high quality system sounds more dynamic and lively than digital formats to my ear. CDs, as great as they are, sound more compressed to me (this is a broad genralization and doesn't always hold true, and sometimes I prefer the cd version...and yes the surface nose on some vinyl is too much!).
I'm also curious what your thoughts on the recent giles martin mixes on CD are
Your channel has some of the best Beatles content on RUclips. I always look forward to the videos. Thanks!
Wow, thanks Bryan!
Interesting that CD sales are also rising again now. And although they were outsold by vinyl that is in monetary terms. In unit sales CDs are still ahead because they are roughly half the price (a neat reversal of 30 years ago). It's nice to have your favourite material in both formats actually because each reveals something slightly different about the music and, as Andrew says, CDs are currently terrific value.
Quite right - CDs still outsell vinyl in every country in the world; in the UK, 11.6m CDs were sold in 2022 against just 5.5m vinyl records, but the BPI and others have unscrupulously tried to suggest the opposite by only referring to revenue rather than sales, no doubt to boost sales of the much more expensive format. Funny, that...
Also, CD is much smaller than aa LP. Plus, if you take care of it then it will last more than 40 years of playing. CDs are the best overall audio medium to have/own as compared to LP, tape, MP3, Flak, and any kind of steaming.
Recently listened to The Beatles official RUclips channel MMT, and it’s so bass heavy. These CDs or transfers of them are my preferred “on the go” way of listening to The Beatles.
Thanks for the content.
Thanks for watching.
I have a 1987 White Album CD and it sounds great. After all, it was my introduction to the album before I finally got a proper vinyl pressing.
The CD release of magical mystery tour was very annoying because it did not contain the 24 page color booklet
The text in that original booklet would’ve been impossible to read in the CD booklet.
. does exist as a double CD e.p. (just like the original vinyl ) with original booklet / artwork
@@zerorez4960it’s on the ep collection box set…
Got a Phillips CD player and a copy of Def Leppard Hysteria around 1987, sounded so damn good was impressed with the technology, plus you could dub some damn good sounding cassettes from CDs using dolbly C and metal tapes.
Another great video Andrew.
I've always been a big supporter of the CD format for numerous reasons...far too many to list here...but long story short. ..if you take care of your CD'S you will have a fantastic sounding version of the albums you love. ..with no popping. .clicking or need of record cleaning...plus the fidelity of a CD is much greater then vinyl.
I own the complete 2009 Beatles catalog in stereo ...but I also own quite a few of the US album versions on CD...those came with both the stereo and mono versions of the songs.
Personally I like the stereo versions of Hard Days Night. .Beatles for Sale and Sgt Pepper but the first 2 are a must in Mono. ..same with Rubber Soul.
But again...this is all personal taste.
Great stuff..looking forward to your next video.
Thank you, Mark.
When i really started to pay attention to music in 1998 i would record music off radio on cassettes. In 2000 i started buying CDs and haven't stopped. Been finding good deals on CDs on Ebay,Amazon and at thrift shops and book stores. Now Lps are a little harder to find for a good deal. Great in depth video about The Beatles early CD releases.
I really appreciate your videos. Alas, this makes me regret getting rid of my - once prized - first generation Beatles CD collection. I joined the 2009 craze - both mono and stereo - and I uncritically accepted as the new cannon. But you can't blame me... Listening to SGT Pepper, MMT, and the White Album in mono was magical. I will look for some of these first generation at second hand shops. Thank you!
Thanks for watching, Alex!
Totally agree that now is the time to be building your CD collection before they become the next big collectible thing. I buy hundreds of CDs from charity shops of albums you would never find cheap on vinyl. You can discover great albums on CD in shops where the only vinyl to be found is Val Doonigan and Englebert Humperdinck.
I remember feeling angry and outraged by the massacre they made to Beatles music in the 1987 CD's. I completed my CD set between 1989 and 1990, and too well do I recall the indignant feeling that all those new mixes had been done by incompetent people who neither loved nor cared, nor even knew about the impressive Beatle legacy. In particular, most of the fadeouts in the earlier records were mercilessly butchered, and I remember my rage at listening to the "Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!" CD rendition where Paul's screaming fadeout had been brutally cut off, just as the falsetto "la-la-la-la-la" in "Misery" 's coda. Memory fails me now and I don't have the records at hand, but I remember how nasty and disrespectful the treatment to Beatle music in most CD's sounded and felt back then. I also missed the charming little anomalies/errors I had grown with, such as the brief cut in Lennon's harmonica at the beginning of "I should have known better" which was listlessly smoothed over in the spurious CD rendition, and Paul's voice cracking in the second ".... was in vain" in the sweet "If I fell". I felt that the system had not had enough with murdering Lennon, they had to murder The Beatles themselves in as many ways as they could. Now it's all really over and, at 62, I don't care that much any longer, but I still believe that a sinister cabal of idiots, oblivious of any notion of history and heritage, had taken over the music industry. The same happened in England overall, a country I used to love and admire, but I feel so embarrassed about and so sorry for today. The show can't go on, and this "curtains" time is bitter and sad indeed......
Glad to read the truth, I grew up with cd versions and it's a shame idiots can't release the real versions. Idiots shouldn't touch they couldn't understand
If you read Mark Lewishon’s Beatles Sessions book when it came out in the late 80s like I did then you would have discovered that those songs differed between their mono and stereo mixes. In the mid 60s more time was spent creating the mono mixes then time spent creating the stereo mixes as mono was more popular with the general public at the time. This is why a lot of Beatles fanatics prefer the mono mixes as heard on the original releases as this was how the songs were meant to be heard.
@@thefonzkissthe mono mixes were edited, the stereo was not, so you hear the vocal error in “If I Fell” only in stereo, just like the harmonica part was corrected in mono, but not stereo.
Just discovered this channel, daygum...what a find (for me). This video right here is amazing. FANTASTIC presentation, just boss level. Wonderful content, wonderful content. THANK YOU so much for this and all of your other videos, (I've been binging the last two days.) : )
Welcome aboard, Sir!
Andrew I bloody loved this video. A1* mate. The retro introduction was incredible. And your memories of Our Price and of buying your CD player ready for the Beatles on CD releases and going home with your first 4 albums was just great (I loved Our Price and still have a few vinyl, CD and cassette with the Our Price stickers).And then what a great collection you put together which I find is spot on with my own preferences. Bang on mate. There is subjectivity and then there's just right, lol. And yes there's something clear and honest about those original 1965 stereo versions of HELP! and Rubber Soul instead of George Martin's 1987 rethink although again it's still MONO for Rubber Soul. And is that why the 1987 Revolver sounds a bit strange then? How could they be so careless as to use a misaligned machine to do the transfer? And then using a stereo machine to transfer the first 4 MONO albums was bad too, although I did know that one. But just incredible little video mate, genuinely. For some reason this one just really touched me. Thank you. Peace and Love.
Thanks for watching, Craig and for your touching comment. Much appreciated.
The 2009 remaster sounds fine to me in the mid-range and the high end with the one obvious exception of "She Said She Said" which was butchered. Also the beginning of the song "A Hard Day's Night" sounds like the tape has been horrifically mangled or the oxide has fallen off. It's sounds like an old cassette. The master tape sounded perfect on the 1992 "Red" CD set. Also the entire "A Hard Day's Night" ALBUM seems to be rolled off on the high end as well. My ears keep expecting higher frequencies and a more open sound stage but instead it sounds blanketed and claustrophobic. Did they mis-transfer the whole master tape or has it degraded?
Either way it shows why going back to the original tapes again and again is not necessarily the best policy every time.
Another great video - I actually sold my breadbin set to buy the 2009 Stereo remaster box which I really like.
I am a younger Beatles fan and my Dad weaned me on them. My first experience was the Yellow Submarine Songtrack, on CD and Tape (and eventually the first LP I bought, imported from the UK), as one parent’s car had a CD player and tape deck, and the other only had a tape deck. To this day, I still love those remixes and they and the film and they give me a profound sense of nostalgia (I eagerly look forward to Giles taking a crack a remixing Only A Northern Song).
I got the 2009 stereo and mono sets from my local library and imported them into my iTunes (my mom didn’t have the money (they had since divorced) and my Dad had all the 87-88 CDs and the two OG Captial sets and wasn’t gonna re-buy it all AGAIN). I have listened to these across various Apple devices over the years and love them all. Though, perhaps because I am someone who listens to my music on my phone, I have no problem enjoying and loving the remixes for the Beatles albums Giles has done for Sgt. Pepper, White Album, 1, LOVE, and Abbey Road, along with the new mix of All Things Must Pass. I would love to actually get a copy of the Mono box now but ebay prices are yikes. I look forward to the Let It Be box in October and I expect it’ll be great!
I’m not a big audiophile guy, but I appreciate your opinions about the various CD releases. I often have trouble decerning things like EQ difference or warmth but I like the perspective of your decisions about each set in your ideal set.
The e.p collection from 1992 gets over-looked once again.I can't remember if it contains the same mono mastering as the 1987 editions.I'll have to check.
As far as i know, the E.P Collection had different remastering in some songs, for example She Loves You sounds much better than the 1988 remaster from Past Masters, the Red Album CD from 1993 includes the 1992 remaster
Absolutely cracking video - thank you. I only collect on CD and am a huge Beatles fan so this felt like it was tailor made for me!
Glad you enjoyed it, Ian.
I visited Korea in early 1992, and bought a Beatles compilation cd that seemed legit, despite being on a Korean label. The sound quality is quite excellent.
For casual listening, I've gone largely with 'The Beatles in Mono' box along with the 1987 CDs of 'Abbey Road' and 'Let It Be' because I do most of my listening over headphones. But this is somebody who was brought up on his dad's "breadbox", so I'll always have a place in my heart for the stereo mixes.
I also have The Blue Album for singles/mixes included in Past Masters Volume Two but missing from the Mono Masters (namely, "Old Brown Shoe" and "The Ballad of John & Yoko").
How could anyone dislike the Brothers In Arms album not only is it brilliant songwriting and musicianship it's also a very well mixed album particularly the drum solo intro to Money For Nothing and So Far Away
I could be wrong, but i think he was trying to indicate that they played it so much, he just got sick of it.
I guess he got SO sick of hearing it on rotation over and over again 24/7. Lol
The tracks that got radio play were overplayed and now ruin the album for me. The same goes with Van Halen's 1984 and U2 's Joshua Tree. They were inescapable and while I initially loved them, they now are like fingernails on a chalkboard.
You are spot-on on that Sergeant Pepper 87 CD got one on eBay for cheap and it does sound great but still love the Giles Martin mix a little bit better😀✌
I'm not familiar with the 1987 issues as it was before my time. All I know is that having got stuck into both 2009 boxes, it's mono for me all the way for the first four albums and Sgt Pepper. In fact, the 2009 stereo pepper wasn't good at all to me, but weirdly the 2017 remix (especially the 5.1 mix) have turned it into my favourite beatles album.
On a similar note, I like how this channel recognises how much sound quality affects the enjoyment of music!
Very good history background...
I have a lot of the cd's. I should see what I have. I DO have the mono cd box.
Also, I don't like, Brothers In Arms, either.
In general I'm not big on remasters, but I was impressed with the Beatles 2009 stereo remasters. I found it had a pleasing mix with more detail than the previous versions I'd heard, but I found relative to a lot of remasters I was less aware of the compression. The 1987 remasters were okay, some were better than others, but I can't remember which ones off the top of my head, in general they were more lifeless as compared to the 2009 masters. For money reasons I decided not to go with the Beatles in Mono remaster, although it looked great and I was very tempted. I also originally listened to the Beatles on various vinyl releases although I never kept track of the specifics. The Beatles sounded great on the vinyl's I had, which were mostly from the 60's and 70s. I also had the White Album on cassette, which was actually pretty good.
Back in 2009 I compared the old vs new and preferred the newer ones. I managed to get the Black stereo boxset.
A friend actually gave me the breadbox (without the CDs)
Tell you what, the mono Magical Mystery Tour CD from the late-90s ep box set is so rich, deep, clear, straightforward and upfront that it easily takes top billing for quality alogside any pic-n-mix of tracks from all three 2009 collections.
I prefer a huge bulk of Past Masters from 1987, being much crisper and brighter. I think too much overthinking went into the 'feel' in 2009, leaving many tracks sounding wooly - even if they are deeper. Love the stereo of all four first albums though, sweet alongside old Japanese releases of the same stereo albums.
Good to FINALLY hear someone else make note of the "poor EQ choices" on the 2009 CD of "Revolver." They turned "She Said She Said" from one of the most explosive rockers ever into a polite pop track. Glad I kept my vinyl!
Very informative as always! 👍
Thank you, John!
I sold the 1987 cds when I bought the 2009 ones but recently bought the 1987 cds again. Thanks to this video I realized I should have just only rebought the later albums on the 87 cds.
My dad had no vinyl Records, but he had a ton of cds! He also burned cds from friends over to CD-rs or even minidisc and cassette (it was when I discovered dads old minidisc player in the dusty drawer with a few minidiscs right next to it, that I also discovered the Beatles. He had copied some songs in random order (not an album, nor a compilation). The first one was “We can work it out” thus making this the first Beatles song I remember listening to). That’s why I love cds! They’re a huge part of my childhood. I now own tons of cds (bought at flee markets for example) and a few Beatles box sets.
Spectacular video as usual!! Keep up the wonderful work! :)
Those 1987 releases do have a charm that I felt were missing in the 2009 issues, even though the packaging in 2009 was fantastic. I do have the Parlophone Bread Box UK issue , alongside the US issues that came out in a longbox Capitol designed. I also own both stereo and mono box sets of 2009.
Oh hell yeah, the original Help Stereo mix in the Mono box, TROUNCES Martin's remix whether on the 1987 CD or the 2009 Stereo CD.
Andrew, your posts are very informative, visually striking and your narration is top notch. I wish they’d let you bring up some of the Bootlegs and their history, but I know that’s just dreaming. Keep these great insights coming!
Maybe one day!
@@Parlogram Omg
Excelent channel ¡¡¡ very nice congratulatons friend
I from Perú i speak spanish. Grettings from Perú.
Enjoyed your vid. 1987 Worked Downtown San Francisco. First break that day, run to Rainbow Records on Market St., buy all available Beatles...that evening on my Sony CDP-101, slightly disappointed they are mono, but I was impressed.
Had that Japanese Abbey Road I got at a small specialty Record store in Daly City, Ca. I always thought it was very hissy. I also have a 1998 White Album anniversary edition. It is mini gatefold, and all the pics are mini, with an acrylic slipcover.
I was wondering why you didn't include the 2015 Sgt Pepper remastering, 2018 White Album Remastering and the 2019 Remastering of Abbey Road. All three of them are superb in 5.1 OMG.
I am glad you made this episode, this is an area I was most interested in as they are all so accessible.
Brings back some lovely memories of 'Our Price' record shop and the Beatles CD releases of 1987. I had just bought a CD player and my sister bought each CD on the day it was released. I think the 2009 remasters actually make the Beatles sound like a more modern band. maybe it was because I had spent over 20 years listening to the 1987 releases.
The best listening I have ever had with these albums is when I heard them played on classic 1960s HiFi from a PC and DAC source (using rips of the 2009 issues). The recordings were not made for high resolution modern equipment - you need the warmth of the old valve amps and the lumbering huge speakers of the 1960s
You and I must be about the same age! I remember exactly where I was when I first heard about the Beatles being released on CD - in my car driving to work, it was an item on the Today programme on Radio 4. They even played a burst of 'I Saw Her Standing There' which sounded really great over FM radio and I imagine caused some of the older listeners to have fits of apoplexy and write letters to the Times. I think the first four Beatles CD albums came packed together in a rigid pvc sleeve. Mine have the ADD/AAD sticker. Although I am now firmly back into vinyl records, I do remember how wonderful CDs seemed when they first came out, sounding far better than my scratchy old vinyl that had been played to death on a Dansette since the 1960s. CDs had no clicks, pops or jumping and you could skip past the tracks you didn't want to hear so often (Within You, Without You)
I tend to prefer the mono mixes on both vinyl and CD - at the risk of sounding heretical, I don't think George Martin really understood stereo at all - or maybe to be fair, the source recordings didn't offer him the scope to create a proper 3D sound stage. Thanks for another great video. I do hope you will cover the coloured vinyl Capitol juke-box Beatles singles at some stage?
What a service this video is. Thank you so much making it. Very helpful.
You're very welcome!
I was at Silver Platters the day of each CD album grouping releases. Exciting times! I still have my 1987/88 albums along with each of their long boxes. I was careful to open them and glued the openings so they all still look brand new.
Of course being the Beatles nut I have been since 1974, I also have every other CD release.
Long boxes are a moment in time that younger collectors probably aren't aware of !!
@@themoviedealers Very true.
I would have to agree because the Beatles on CD is great especially the remastered 2009 is so much better than making 87 Perkins but you and I are big Beatles fans I love the Beatles in any format except for digital streaming.
I’m watching your channel since a while. Very interesting topic as I’m into CD and LP. Your channel is very informative and you have a very relaxing British voice. Thank you for your work.
Thanks for watching, Endria.
Here in America, we have the Beatles Capitol Albums Vol 1 and 2 released in 2006. First the songs are in Stereo, then again in order in Mono. You should here the stereo version of "She's A Woman". That opening guitar sounds like it's being played in a huge dome. Pretty cool.
I have a 30th Anniversary limited edition of The White Album on CD. It came in a digipak modeled off the vinyl sleeve instead of the bulky double-jewel case. It also included mini versions of the posters.
I had that but sold it once I realized that it was the identical version of the 1988 release. I was hoping for a remaster. But the packaging was cool.
@@trusso11783 it's actually an improvement over the original CD for the fact that it corrected the indexing on certain tracks (for instance, the acoustic intro to Bungalow Bill is placed at the end of Wild Honey Pie on the old CD)
Outstanding as always..and that 80s intro...I could almost smell the hairspray!
Cheers, Steve!
I love the 1987 discs! That’s what I grew up with!
In my opinion, the only *real* way to judge the different editions of Sgt Pepper's is by how they handled the high-frequency "dog whistle" tone at the end of the album, before the looping inner groove! ;)
Seriously, they do have differences. When I first heard the 2017 mix, I noticed that the tone sounded different from the 2009 CD I was used to. So I used Audacity to take a frequency spectrum plot of that tone on the 2009 stereo CD, and found that though it has a peak at 15kHz, it's not a pure tone - it's a very wide peak, very noisy, with several other peaks at other frequencies. This means that it's quite loud even below 15kHz, making it quite easy to hear.
Then I took an equivalent frequency plot of the 2017 version, and found that it's a nearly pure 16kHz tone (not 15!), with an extremely sharp, narrow peak. This higher frequency and less noisy peak means that 2017 is a lot harder to hear than 2009.
(I don't have the 1987 CD, or an original vinyl LP, to compare it to.)
IIRC, from digging around a few forum discussions on the subject (Steve Hoffman forum etc) apparently the dog whistle tone on the original vinyl LP was never recorded onto tape, but was generated at the mastering stage. (The post I saw cited Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book here, so that *should* be reliable info.) So for the 1987 and 2009 CD, they took the sound from a vinyl copy instead, hence the noise. So presumably for the 2017 edition, they must have generated the pure tone again from scratch. (But at 16kHz instead of 15?)
Not sure if everything in the above paragraph about the origins of accurate, but it's what I saw people talking about when I looked into it at the time!
Really informative as ever Andrew. Apart from the first 4 I bought them all on release date in the HMV box sets. These were a bit tacky apart from the Sgt Pepper one which I loved at the time. I remember thinking that I’d never need to buy another copy of the albums again as the sound would be that amazing! I do still like the sound of them on the whole. Listened to Abbey Road today and it sounded great
The day Sgt. Pepper was released on CD, I was playing the classical music station at the store I helped run. Morning Pro Musica was hosted by Robert J. Lertsema, from WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. In that warm, low, slow voice, he introduced the CD as a masterpiece in it’s genre, and as an historic release. Then he played it in full, without interruption, right through the inner groove.
I was first getting into the Beatles music not long after the CDs were released. Cassettes were fine for everything else, but the Beatles I just HAD to have on CD. I took the nearly $200 I got at graduation and bought a small CD player. I would go into my local music store and order a new CD each week. Then I moved on to the McCartney/Wings CDs. I still have all those old discs. Man, those were good times!
Good times indeed!
Barclay James Harvest had similar phasing problems remastering the albums they recorded at Abbey Road. EMI still had the original machine they had been recorded on and the tapes played fine on that which reduced the complexity of remastering them. I wonder if it was the same machine?! Might well be as they were recording at Abbey Road from 69-73.
I have the 2009 CDs of Sargent Pepper's and Help. I also have the 1996 Anthology 1, 2 and 3 on CD. I have Anthology 1 on vinyl.
I spent 30 years in the US Air Force. From 1984 to 1987 I as assigned to Mildenhall and lived in Ely. We would frequently go to Cambridge to shop and I spent some time in Our Price records. I remember questioning the staff on a couple of occasions. Perhaps you helped me then. It is a small world. Thanks for your videos on the Beatles. Steve
Great days, Steve. Thanks for watching!
I like your calm voice and informative videos. Thanks for the content.
My first real experience listening to the Beatles was cd. Around 1992 I can recall going into Hastings (RIP :() and seeing the "bread box" on the shelf. I think it was over $199.99 at the time. Which was a gob of money for a working young man.
I can still remember trying out a new Beatles album as I worked out on the treadmill and bike. That was my Beatles listening session back in time. Nothing quite like discovery the Beatles for the first time. Im glad I didnt marathon an all day session but rather listened to one album a week.
So, my first exposure as an american was to the british versions. Did it right ;)
Still have the cds though the bread box fell apart after a few years. The little black booklet I didnt discover until months later. Such a cool little read.
Here are my preferences:
Please Please Me-mono 2009 (I think they got this one right despite tape issues(?)) cheating with needledrop of the Hortzu as far as stereo.
With The Beatles-(I cheated) needledrop of the "wide" stereo version. Though the mono 2009 isnt bad.
Beatles For Sale- I think thats the one they got right in the 2009 set in stereo. Not a mono mix fan either of this album.
A Hard Days Night- dont like any of them. But I guess the 2009 versions are ok. (Accept for the glitch or whatever the heck that is at the begining chord on the stereo. Was that done on purpose? Because it makes no sense as to why that crinkly sound is there. )
Too bad, because imo this is the best early Beatles album. Should be given the deluxe treatment and redone proper as a mono/stereo package. If Peppers can then this should be also.
Help!- the canadian one that has the original 65 stereo
Rubber Soul-the canadian cd that has the 65 original stereo (not a big fan of the stereo mix of this album either. So mono 2009 also)
We need a stereo remix in the year 2030. Maybe by then technology will catch up to do something besides the dreadful "demixing" process of today. But I digress :D
Revolver-dont like any of them. Poor Revolver. My favorite Beatles album and its been misaligned, wacked out with weird equalization and mistreated :( We need this redone as a deluxe package with AAA mastering of the stereo.
Needledrop original stereo to DVD-A for this title also. (cheated again. Im just a cheat lets face it!)
MMT-the 87 stereo is very nice, though I prefer the mono mix. The 2009 mono from the box is well done.
Sgt Peppers-87 cd sounds balanced and well done.
The Beatles- Ill go for the 87. Pretty close to the tapes from what I gather. The 2009 just seems jacked up and level matched across all the songs. Some say the 87 anniversary edition sounds better, but I cant tell any difference in the regular 87 and 87 anniversary.
Abbey Road-japanese black triangle all the way. Ive always wondered if this is the same mastering as the Pro-Use lp?
Let It Be- the 87 sounds good.
Im one of those meanies that hate the remixes and think that the Beatles still havent been served well on digital on some seminal albums. Could be so much better Id think.
Maybe one day theyll do the stereo's over. Or at least A Hard Days Nigjt and Revolver stereos.
Id like AAA for all stereos but more concerned about different mastering and eq.
So needle drops it is for me on many of these!
(mono transfer to stereo head machine for the first four 87s...eep...gee whiz ...still cant get wrapped around that one)
Thanks for sharing your preferences, John.
What is Needledrop ? Vinyl?
Ah. So many memories with those classic CDs. So many car rides with "Sgt. Pepper's" and "The White Album" and "Abbey Road" blaring from my dad's broken speakers. I could punch my younger self in the face for losing my Beatles collection, then punch myself with the other hand for losing my Pink Floyd collection.
Great video Andrew! Based on the education I got from you, I recently bought the 1987 copy of the white album. I also got Abbey Road but with a newer mix from a few years ago.
Hard to beat a physical format (true of books too), but fortunately streaming services like Apple Music are starting to offer lossless streaming which is a convenient way to have access to that level of sound quality. Great video as always!
Thank you, Gustavo.
I have just bougth a Beatle CD and in part that is thank to you.
Love Revolver even more now. 👍🏻👍🏻❣
Until watching this video I never even thought about my copy of The White Album. I bought the HMV limited edition box set but, looking at the disc inside, mine is also numbered 25846. I knew the HMV box was numbered but I hadn't even considered the fact that EMI would have numbered the CDs.
Cool video andrew, tell us what do you think about the 2009 Sgt Peppers version? and what about the 2017 version of Pepper?
I got my first ever Beatles album in 2013 (I'm now only 25) and it was a 2009 remaster of SGT Pepper, and is hands down my favourite to this day, and plan in collecting all of the CDs for a perfect road trip collection
1:38 hahahaha! Great stuff Andrew! I was a 6 year old then with various family trips to the Norfolk / Suffolk coast from landlocked Bedfordshire. It was pretty much the only album (via cassette) in the car.
Wow. My dad had a Mantovani album "Latin Rendezvous" in Stereo. That London label showed that exact "Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound" across it. Let me tell you, that is one of the best sounding albums I've ever heard in my lifetime! The versions of "Malaguena" and "Granada" are so lively sounding, it is like the orchestra is in your living room. Sorry, being off topic.
Would have liked your thoughts on the very latest 50th anniversary issues/mixes. But you’ve got me now rooting through boxes looking for my old 1987 CDs! 👍
When did they have high manufacturing costs for CD's? As far back as the very early 90s, the cost of CD manufacture was £1.00 and the typical price of a Beatles CD was £16.49! I'm sure you can see the profit margin there! If manufacturing costs for CD's WERE high (which I'm very skeptical about) it must have been in the very early days. Record companies made an absolute killing with CD's.
I also recall a urban legend going around at the time in the US that a record company only needed to sell 5K CD units to financially break-even. In other words, if a CD title was released, and not a _farthing,_ or in the US, a _penny_ was used for marketing or advertising the CD; just the sale of 5,000 units would recoup the expense it took to manufacture and distribute the disc.
@@bloqk16 I think his assertion of high manufacturing costs for CD's is way off the mark. At their height, the average cost over here was £12 - £15! As I said before, Beatles CD's were even more expensive at £16.49!! I remember reading a newspaper article from years ago saying that manufacturing costs were £1 per disk. £1 manufacturing versus £12 - £15 profit was obscene. I believe that later on, the manufacturing costs were even lower than that! That urban legend probably has a very big ring of truth to it.
During the first 5 years of Compact Discs, manufacturing costs were significantly higher than for LP records. At the format's inception, there were only two (2) CD manufacturing plants for the entire world, one in Japan and one in Hannover, West Germany. This was an advanced technology, and start-up costs were enormous. Also, the failure rate for manufactured CDs was very high (perhaps around 50%), and with the inception of video Laserdiscs ("Discovision") which launched in 1978 there wasn't really any history of mass-manufacturing a consumer product of this type before. At great expense and financial risk, a number of companies built such CD manufacturing plants and by 1990 manufacturing capacity started to catch up with consumer demand. At that point, there were some (alleged) efforts within the industry at "price maintenance" racketeering for CDs. Somewhere after 1990, the per-unit manufacturing cost-basis for cassettes, CDs and the vanishing LP format became near-equal. However, a messy part of what consumers experienced wasn't just greedy record companies but greedy artists who at the time could demand and get higher per-unit royalties on CDs compared with cassettes or LPs. In retrospect, for the vast majority of performing artists the period from 1985-1999 was the last time they could actually earn decent royalty revenue from album sales. As for the companies investing in developing new CD manufacturing facilities from 1982 through 1992, financially their risk taking was handsomely rewarded. And finally, you are right that for the enormous financial risk entailed by record companies themselves with a new audio format, they did obtain massive profits for quite a few years. Alas, the industry's fat-profits years became a memory after 1998.
I love the Beatles on CDs and now I’m beginning to like the 1987 version of the Beatles music I not only love the 2019 masters but I also really love the remixes are great.
Wow, now I know why those first four CDs sounded so bad. I remember running out and buying all them as they were being released, but was underwhelmed by the sonics of the firs four. I always loved the 2009 remasters, but I am with you 100% about being irritated by the cleaning up of the little noises and imperfections in the original masters. You've convinced me to revisit my copies of the later albums from the 87 releases and compare them to the 2009. Another great video!
i'm working my way through your work reverse chronologically, so kindly disregard if i'm just late to the party...but if you haven't done these "ultimate collection" lists for other formats, i'd love to see you do them someday! vinyl, of course, but even cassette too
My first CD was the 1987 Sgt Pepper but I had to wait a year or to listen to it as I didn't have a CD player. And obviously still have the CD ...
The Brothers In Arms album helped to break through CD sales. I've now got three copies of it. The original CD , the 20th anniversary release and also part of the Dire Straits boxed set released in 2020